Wesley Snipes

The tragedy of actor Wesley Snipes' career was due not to the fact that he was sentenced to three years of jail time for tax evasion in 2008, but rather because it overshadowed a prolific decade of wo...
Read More...

This week’s Puss in Boots – spun off from 2004’s Shrek 2 and ultimately based on the 17th century fairy tale of the same name – arrives in theaters with tough odds.
Spin-off movies, even more so than spin-off TV shows, have historically not fared well, to say the least. Here are the worst of the worst, followed by the very few that have worked … somewhat.
Evan Almighty
Spun off from: Bruce Almighty
The most expensive comedy ever made is also one of the cheapest, thanks to the broad gags – the relatively few times gags were even attempted – and the overall made-for-TV feel. And the slightly religious subplot and undertones? Just plain weird.
Elektra
Spun off from: Daredevil
Jennifer Garner was the high point of this superheroine dud, but that’s not saying much. We usually expect such fare to be mindless, not brainless like Elektra (and almost earnings-less: $24 million at the box office), so it makes sense that the “franchise” ended there – and that director Rob Bowman hasn’t done too much in the world of movies since.
The Scorpion King
Spun off from: The Mummy series
How do you take a really long-haired Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson – at the time making just his second appearance on the big screen – seriously as a “Warrior. Legend. King.”? You simply do not. Cannot. And that’s before even seeing the terrible movie that was The Scorpion King.
U.S. Marshals
Spun off from: The Fugitive
This half spinoff/half sequel to the megahit that was 1993’s The Fugitive show’s Hollywood greed at its worst: assuming audiences will pay to see a much, much worse version of what they’ve already seen. Or: assuming audiences are dumb. Predictably, the substitutions – Wesley Snipes for Harrison Ford; director Stuart Baird for Andrew Davis; suspenseless-ness for suspense – didn’t go over too well.
Catwoman
Spun off from: Batman series
Halle Berry, then hot off her first Oscar and granted a veritable pick of the litter (pun intended), can’t be blamed for choosing a splashy, high-profile role that would seemingly launch the rare, necessary female-driven franchise. But, uh, maybe she should have read the script? More than once? Could’ve saved her the embarrassment of being the face of hands-down the worst spinoff ever made – and possibly one of the worst non-spinoffs ever made.
...and a few that have worked
Get Him to the Greek
Spun off from: Forgetting Sarah Marshall
It’s far from perfect (see: the overlong, underfunny ending), but graded on the spinoff scale, Get Him to the Greek is pretty darn good – the “Jeffrey”-freakout scene is actually kinda memorable – and perhaps reason enough for Hollywood to continue attempting such films.
Saturday Night Live
Movies
The vast majority (i.e., It’s Pat, A Night at the Roxbury, Stuart Saves His Family, Superstar), but it’s safe to say that we all only remember the two great ones: Blues Brothers and Wayne’s World.

The Rush Hour star was hit with a staggering $11 million (£6.88 million) tax bill from America's Internal Revenue Service (IRS) last year (10) and reports suggesting he's facing foreclosure on his $6 million (£3.75 million) mansion in Florida emerged this week (begs10Oct11).
But Tucker is not letting his cash worries get him down - and he has worked them into his comedy show.
During a recent performance in Miami, Florida, the comedian joked, "They (IRS officials) calling you acting like you owe them the money personally! I don't owe you s**t! This is between me and the company!"
Tucker even poked fun at another embattled actor who was sentenced to prison for tax troubles, quipping, "That's the last time I let Wesley Snipes help me out with my taxes!"
Snipes began a three-year prison sentence last December (10) for neglecting to file income tax returns in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

This is a terrible week to be Wesley Snipes. The actor is in Federal Prison for tax evasion and his appeal on the grounds that his constitutional rights were violated in his Florida tax trial was denied. Apparently, he lived in other states during the years for which he's being tried and his lawyers claim that renders the Florida trial invalid. Well, Wesley, you still didn't pay your taxes, so you're still going to serve that pesky little three year sentence.
Because Snipes failed to file his taxes 1999, 2000 and 2001, he's sentenced to a year sentence in prison for each of those years, meaning he's not scheduled for release until 2013. Also of note, Snipes actually had a Florida driver's license during those three years, so it would seem his claim is pretty bogus. Either way, did he think the trial would go any differently in New York? It would be the "hey, you didn't pay your taxes, go to jail" story all over again.
Lesson of the day, folks? Pay your taxes, because even celebs have to go to jail (for real; not a Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton half-day sentence) when they don't.
Source: CNN

The Blade star began a three-year prison sentence in December (10) for neglecting to file income tax returns in 1999, 2000 and 2001.
But Snipes, who maintains his innocence and insists he was duped by tax advisors, recently filed an appeal to overturn the conviction.
However, that plea was shut down by the Supreme Court when officials refused the star's hearing.
The actor must now carry out the remainder of his jail term, according to CNN.

This Friday, Brandon Routh returns to the big screen in his first leading role since Superman Returns in Dylan Dog: Dead of Night. The film, based on an Italian comic created by Tiziano Sclavi, follows the title character, a paranormal investigator, as he rids the world of the terrifying creatures of the night. Of course, he's not Hollywood's first comic-book hero to take on the undead; Wesley Snipes' Blade vanquished plenty of vampires in his trilogy while Ron Perlman's Hellboy held the forces of darkness at bay for a pair of pictures. So in honor of Dylan Dog's arrival on domestic shores, I thought it'd be fun to pick a couple of other characters ready to protect the planet from the things that go bump in the night on the silver screen.
Occult Crimes Taskforce
The beautiful Rosario Dawson co-created this series and the actress lends her likeness to protagonist Sophia Ortiz, a officer in the titular division of the NYPD. The unit patrols a district of New York at the epicenter of an extant that connects Earth with another dimension. This area, called The Otherground by those aware of its existence, is primarily populated by practitioners of magic. The taskforce protects New Yorkers from Rogue Ceteri (creatures from the dimensions beyond) and those who utilize magic for personal gain at the expense of others. I think that, since there's a lack of female superheroes at the multiplex, the industry could use a horror heroine like Ms. Ortiz; one who's resourceful and sexy in equal measure. Plus, the first storyline dealt with Ortiz hunting a (supernatural) serial killer, which is a celluloid profession that many leading ladies have taken on in the past.
Nocturnals
When Doc Horror and his daughter Eve escaped their Black Planet, they didn't plan on facing the same parasitic villains that conquered their home on Earth. After making nice with Pacific City's ruthless mob kingpin Don Lupo and taking out all of his competition, things seemed to be nice and easy for the displaced duo. They frequently do battle with the city's criminal element and also protect it from larger supernatural threats with the help of a few like-minded societal outcasts including Polychrome, Starfish, Firelion, Komodo, Raccoon and Gunwitch. However, when the Crim (said parasitic organisms) find their way to our world and try to take out Doc Horror and Eve, a much larger and deadlier conflict ensues. Like the OCT and Dylan Dog, Nocturnals opens up a broad, never-before-seen world of paranormal activity to the public. The mini-series has great pulp sensibilities, a wonderful rouge's gallery and nuanced core characters, making it perfect for a motion picture.
Darkchylde
In this beautifully terrifying tale, Ariel Chylde suffers from her own nightmares, quite literally. Actually, she becomes the creatures from her nightmares and then must stop the evil forces she's released into the real world. Now, I'm kind of cheating here, because there are already (very loose) plans to adapt Darkchylde for a feature film. John Carpenter will direct and that prospect has me all giddy. Just think, he's the guy who had a young and innocent Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) battle the monstrous Michael Myers in the original Halloween and its (first) sequel. Now imagine the intensity and terror of that struggle applied to a series of fights between supernatural creatures and the one blond babe who can stop them. With Jennifer Lawrence or Amber Heard. Nuff said.
Girls
As you can tell, I kinda like women in horror (who doesn't?) The Luna Brothers created this creepy comic book about a small town with a microscopic population that has a unique "problem": unidentified naked females keep roaming through the streets. Heartbreaking, I know. But it actually does get worse. The mysterious ladies seem to have an attraction to the locals of Pennystown and mate with them regularly. Just shoot me now. Anyway, we eventually find out that these girls are hatching eggs that turn out to be clones of themselves soon after intercourse and are attacking the normal women, eating lots of flesh along the way. Also, there's a huge sperm-like monster out in the cornfields and a giant dome blocking off all aid from the outside world. Now I see. With shades of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Under The Dome, Species and V, I can't think of any reason why Girls wouldn't work as a hard R-rated horror thriller with loads of sex and sci-fi appeal.

S2E18: I think my excitement about Community’s renewal may have overshadowed the show itself, (there were a few seconds of happy dancing that I really wish my co-workers could un-see) but as usual the show delivered a great episode with a few unexpected twists that can only be described as awesomely hilarious. Another thing I love about this show is that even when they don’t rely on these crazy themes (or “gimmicks” as some more negative folks might call them) like paintball warfare or Dungeons and Dragons battles or secret trampoline gardens, they always churn out something entertaining, hilarious, smart and completely unexpected.
“Why is everyone in this school obsessed with race?” –Jeff
“Hah. White people problems.” –Britta
Another thing I love about this show is that they never tiptoe around racism. I just cringed because that sounds so offensive, but wait, I do have a point here. They’ve got two extremely racist characters, Pierce and Chang, and they are not afraid to use them; but what’s great about having those characters around is watching the way the rest of the group responds. From Shirley’s polite objections, to Britta’s haughty, yet misinformed reactions to Jeff’s equally haughty, yet even more hollow complaints, to Annie’s attempt to be so culturally aware that she wraps back around to racism, the chain reactions throughout the group are what makes it work.
But beyond that, the bit that I loved from this week’s cold open was the “bargaining system” they set up with Pierce. I’ve been growing tired of how awful he’s become in the past few episodes, but it seems like the writers are finally starting to put all that bad to humorous use which is great because his character has become so rotten, that if they don’t start bringing it back to funny I think he’s in danger of becoming too awful.
“If it’s mine I’ll be a lovable uncle. Okay, a creepy uncle. Final offer.” –Chang
Anyway, this episode mostly centered around Shirley’s baby daddy drama. Now that her Halloween tryst is out in the open (something else we can thank rotten Pierce for), she’s not sure whose baby she’s having, but she and returning guest star Malcolm Jamal-Warner decide they’ll raise the baby as a family no matter who the father is. Aww, such love. But there’s one, glaring Changry problem…it’s, well, Chang. He wants to be a part of the child’s life, but Shirley wants him out. She even draws up a contract to get him to resign all rights because, well, he’s Chang. He’s crazy, and not in the lovable Abed sort of way.
“Don’t saw the floor, don’t saw anything. I’m tired of confiscating saws.” –Jeff
Of course, Chang won’t sign and Jeff sees an opportunity to finally get Chang to get a job and get off of his super expensive leather couch. It’s almost adorable how childlike Chang is; he tries to fix Jeff’s table, but of course ends up screwing it up and he tries desperately to prove to Shirley that he can be a good father. Apparently being a good father means dressing like the dad from Leave It To Beaver, smoking a pipe and kidnapping some lady named LaShonda’s kids because he’s too racist to know that they aren’t Shirley’s. This was where the plot got kind of great. The whole turning over a new leaf with Jeff behind him all the way for his own selfish reasons bit was set up and expected as long as you’re familiar with the characters, but the last act descends into insanity and gets just a little bit real – but not too real. Don’t worry.
When Chang picks up not-Shirley’s kids from school and Jeff forces him to apologize to Shirley and quickly takes the kids back “home” Chang calls in a kidnapping charge and Jeff lands in the slammer. Whoops. Of course, Shirley clears everything up and ends up convincing the kids’ mother to press charges against Chang who’s dragged away like a madman on death row. Even though this whole bit was by most accounts intense and pretty dark, the Community element came out and made it madcap and brutally hilarious. Chang calling the bald police officer “Officer Baby” certainly didn’t hurt.
I also appreciate that Shirley isn’t so right all the time. Yes, she’s ultra-religious and serves as a semi-matriarch for the group when it’s convenient, but she can be just as selfish and screwed up as the rest of them. It’s this extra dimension to these “zany” character that is a crucial element that separates Community from other, more generic sitcoms. These characters are all insane, but they’re also grounded in more humane struggles – they just play them out in more extreme ways than most of us would, but that’s why they’re so entertaining.
“How about if we promise to go easier on you if you promise not to tell us any details about the guys you’re dating unless they’ve committed genocide.” –Troy
“Or if they’re left-handed, I wanna know about that. I’m making a chart.” –Abed
Oh hey, guess what? Britta’s ruining something, AGAIN. Everyone’s favorite downer has the hots for Troy and Abed’s new video game buddy and after she’s “ruined” their other friends, including Jeff “nipple play” Winger, they forbid her to hook up with Luca. Of course, as Jeff points out, telling her not to hook up with Luca was a guarantee she would and though she promised that she wouldn’t screw this one up she really couldn’t help it. Why? Oh, simply because Luca is a WAR CRIMINAL. Genius. Of course, Britta would get all googley-eyed for a dude who not only committed genocide, but talks about how much he misses killing those “dirty people” while he’s trying to HOOK UP with a hot girl.
Britta, being the extreme person she is and being totally aware that she’s constantly a downer tries desperately to keep Troy and Abed from finding out the terrible truth from her, eventually framing Luca for stealing their beloved Kickpuncher Blu-ray. But of course, Abed has a security camera so he can get footage for the documentary he’s making about his life (of course he’s making a documentary about his life, OF COURSE) and they catch her stealing before they find out that Luca’s past is pretty terrifying. This whole storyline was great because not only does it redeem Britta a bit because she really tries desperately to not be a buzz kill – aww – but the scene where Luca uses his real life experience to help Troy and Abed get major points in their violent video game while they have no clue how brutal the guy really is was a brilliant little exchange. It’s just another example of how Community has the ability to take awful, uncomfortable truths and use them to comedic effect – something few other comedies can attempt successfully.
The tag was rather short, giving us a quick shot of the group hanging out by spending all their time on their phones or computers or iPads (OF COURSE Abed is using an iPad) but my favorite part was how everyone else is using their technological devices to go on Facebook or Twitter or text, Pierce is plugging away on his ancient, giant calculator. He probably thought he was chatting with Wesley Snipes again.
The episode didn't really deliver some of the fireworks of the last few, but like the "Mixology" episode back in December, this episode proves that at its foundation, Community is a well-written, solid comedy and that the fun themes are just icing on the cake, really.

In November (10), a judge in New York ruled Diandra's claims for a share of the profits from last year's (10) Wall Street sequel should be heard in California, and dismissed the case.
Now she has spoken out to insist she's only pursuing her legal action because she's been left short of cash after falling victim to crooked investment advisers Madoff and Starr.
She tells Harper's Bazaar, "Because of the type of human being I aspire to be, if Starr &amp; Company hadn't happened and Madoff hadn't, and if a lot of other things hadn't happened, to tell you the honest truth, I really believe I would have walked away."
Douglas has vowed to continue her court fight for a 50 per cent share of the profits from Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, adding: "One cannot live one's life based on the court of public opinion."
But she dismissed critics who accused her of targeting Douglas while he was battling throat cancer last year (10): "Michael didn't know he was ill, I didn't know he was ill, and the gods didn't know he was ill. I am not into going after sick people for things that don't belong to me... I am not a greedy person by nature."
Starr was jailed for seven years earlier this month (Mar11) for embezzling $30 million (£20 million) from clients including Uma Thurman, Martin Scorsese and Wesley Snipes, and Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison in 2009 after pleading guilty to siphoning billions from clients including Kevin Bacon and Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Starr has been in jail since his arrest last May (10) and in September (10) he pleaded guilty to charges including wire fraud and money laundering.
On Wednesday (02Mar11), U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin ordered Starr to spend seven years and six months behind bars, according to the Associated Press.
He told the court, "I stand before you a contrite, humiliated and ashamed man. (I) strayed from the values I've been taught... I have no one to blame but myself."
As well as his jail sentence, Judge Scheindlin told Starr he would have to hand over $29 million (£19.3 million). However, prosecutors have voiced concerns that Starr does not have enough in assets to pay the bill.

Today is a fantastic day to pick up truly great older films on Blu-ray for the first time. All The President’s Men, Network, Rain Man, Last Tango in Paris, Chaplin, The Stranger and Moonstruck all hit shelves today, so there’s bound to be something for everyone. That is unless you simply cannot stand for older movies. If that’s the case, then your new release options are limited to runaway trains, straight-to-video Wesley Snipes and a documentary about America’s school system.
----------------------
Top Shelf
Network (Warner Brothers, $14.99)
It’s the size of the Chrysler Building!

It's no easy thing to define the "black experience" in the United States, but if artists working in any particular medium have succeeded time and again, it's filmmakers. We wanted to take a deep dive into some of these films because its Black History Month, there have been tremendous contributions to cinema that shouldn't go unrecognized and well, we think it's important.
Highlighted below are some of what we feel are the most crucial and influential films that honor the hardships, triumphs and history of the black experience. In no particular order, here are 20 films that we believe helped define entire generations and continue to define great cinema.
Do the Right Thing
Spike Lee’s 1989 masterpiece took audiences into the BedStuy neighborhood in Brooklyn on the single hottest day of the summer, just as racism and bigotry are boiling over until it all ends in violence. When the Italian American- African American prejudices overflow, Lee’s Mookie is left to make a split second, difficult decision. The film is considered to be one of the most controversial movies ever; debate swirls around whether or not Mookie actually does the right thing in the end, but Lee has noted that those who truly value life over property shouldn’t question Mookie’s choice.
Roots
This 1977 television miniseries showed viewers the devastating history of slavery in America as they’d never seen it before. LeVar Burton stars in the film based on acclaimed author Alex Haley’s history of his ancestors. The story follows Haley’s fourth great grandfather, Kunte Kinte, as he is ripped from his home, brought to America and sold into slavery. As the story continues Kunte Kinte and his children and grandchildren endure separation and violence as well as many historical events such as the Civil War and Emancipation. Haley ends the miniseries with a short narration and photo montage connecting himself directly to history and the ancestors whom the film depicts, truly personalizing history by pairing faces and names with a time that most only ever encountered in textbooks.
Driving Miss Daisy
This 1989 film presents the southern prejudices in the late 1940s while proving that race and religion could overcome those elements. In Georgia, 72 year old Daisy already knows the cold front of religious prejudice in the South. When she has a driving mishap and is forced to hire a driver, she learns the true impact of racism in the region. Miss Daisy’s friendship with Hoke (Morgan Freeman) improves and grows over time, and through his experiences her eyes are opened to the overtly discriminatory society. The film explores the prejudices that plagued Jewish Americans and Black Americans and shows the beginning of society’s upward turn when Daisy attends a dinner where Martin Luther King Jr. is speaking.
Gone With The Wind
The classic film from 1939 tells the dramatized tale of the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era from the Southern point of view. The film is also credited with giving a role to the first African American person to ever win an Oscar, Hattie McDaniel. It was the biggest film of its time, and its premiere highlighted the staunch racism that had yet to be resolved in the US. McDaniel and other black actors were barred from the premiere due to remaining Jim Crow laws, and if it had not been for McDaniel’s request that he attend, Clark Gable would have boycotted the premiere. McDaniel’s Oscar win and her non-admittance to her own film premiere drew attention to the archaic prejudices that managed to survive and this attention helped to move towards abolishing them.
Boyz 'N the Hood
Much like Do the Right Thing did for Brooklyn, this 1991 film chronicled the lives of a group of friends in South Central Los Angeles as they dealt with violence in their neighborhood. It starts with this message: "1 in 21 American black males will be a victim of murder. Most will be killed by other black males." The group of friends navigate gang life and their own big dreams but by the end of the film, blood has been shed and some of those dreams have been cut short. The film was praised for its striking look at a harsh reality and made director John Singleton the youngest person and first African American to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Director.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Cicely Tyson is praised for her performance in this 1974 TV miniseries, based on the book by acclaimed author Ernest J. Gaines. The film tells the story of a woman in the South who is born into slavery, witnesses the Civil War but lives long enough to eventually become a part of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1962 at age 110. The miniseries preceded Roots, and was a landmark in the art of prosthetic makeup as the film depicted Jane aging from 23 to 110.
To Kill a Mockingbird
This literary classic turned iconic film is a story that almost every American should know – it’s been required reading for high school students almost every year since its publication. Gregory Peck lends his talents to the role of Atticus Finch, a 1930s Southern lawyer who defends a wrongly accused black man from his undeserved rape charge and the prejudices of the time. Many criticize the film and the novel for their lack of depth amongst the black characters, but what the 1962 film did accomplish was evoking the long history of racial injustice and crippling prejudices that continued to plague the US while its audience was in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement.
The Jackie Robinson Story
This 1950 biopic can’t not be included on this list. It tells the story of Jackie Robinson through his own eyes, as it stars Robinson as himself. The film follows his struggle in the sports world as he moves up from the minor leagues and becomes the first African American Major League Baseball player ever. Even though racial segregation was rampant at the time of its release, the film did remarkably well in the box office, making steps toward eventual changes in the long-standing societal prejudices.
Shaft
This classic 1971 film is often credited as the father of the Blaxploitation film genre. John Shaft is a private eye hired by a crime lord to bring back his kidnapped daughter and the action film draws on elements of film noir while still forging its own genre. Shaft is hugely culturally significant; it’s preserved in National Film Registry and is considered one of the best films of 1971. It was also a landmark film in that is cost only half a million dollars to make, but earned over $13 million. The pop culture effects of Shaft are countless, and can still be seen all over television and movies today.
Ray
This 2004 film captures the life of Ray Charles, one of the most significant musicians of the 20th century. Jamie Foxx delivers an Oscar-winning performance while sharing Charles’ legacy with a new generation. Not only did Charles pioneer his hybrid style of music (gospel, country, jazz and orchestral) but he revolutionized the music world by fighting segregation in jazz clubs and fighting for artists’ rights within the music business. He also overcame his own demons as his musical genius allowed to become one of the most beloved musicians of all time.
Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner
Screenwriter William Rose created an ideal subject for Spencer Tracy’s liberal upper class patriarch to criticize: a charming and educated African American doctor who wishes to take his daughter’s hand in marriage. Sidney Poitier’s sterling John Prentice made it difficult for Tracy’s Matt Drayton to judge him on any other ground but his skin color and this helped the Oscar-winning 1967 drama address the growing Civil Rights Movement head on, exploring the underbelly of prejudices that plagued society in a though-provoking but entertaining package.
A Raisin in the Sun
Based on the award-winning play, A Raisin in the Sun sees Sidney Poitier leading a stellar cast including Ruby Dee and Louis Gossett in this drama centering on the Younger family’s hopes for a better life. We learn that the various generations of African Americans represented by the contrasting characters all have different notions of what success means to a black family in the United States (pre-Civil Rights Movement), but the moral of the story is that they can all succeed in fulfilling their dreams as long as they stick together. It was a powerful message at a time when assimilation seemed to be the safest move, especially for young African Americans, and showed that they could all live together and become a part of a larger community while keeping their individuality and identity in tact.
In The Heat Of The Night
Wow, Sidney Poitier has been in a lot of landmark movies, huh? This one casts him as a big-city detective from the progressive north who’s sent down to the narrow-minded South to assist a racist cop in hunting down a murderer. The major accomplishment of the film, other than giving the world an incredibly quotable line of dialogue (“They call me MR. TIBBS!”), was its development of a mutual understanding and respect between the two central characters -- a breakthrough that mirrored the changing sociopolitical climate in the U.S.
Malcolm X
One of the most controversial figures in American history was given a stirring biopic thanks to one of the most culturally significant filmmakers of the 20th century. Spike Lee shouldered a massive responsibility in telling the tale; his vision for the project was subject to scrutiny from nearly everyone remotely involved in the production. Spanning Malcolm’s entire life and depicting both the seedy and stoic sides of his character, the film was a truthful, sympathetic epic on par with heralded biopics such as Ghandi and Lawrence of Arabia.
The Color Purple
Steven Spielberg’s heartbreaking film, based on the acclaimed book by Alice Walker, chronicled the life of Celie Johnson and the hardships she faced as a black woman in early 20th Century America. Though the story is a personal account, the trials and tribulations that Celie endured were representative of entire generations of African American women.
Ali
Director Michael Mann gave Cassius Clay a rousing and realistic tribute in this pricey motion picture that saw star Will Smith knock it out of the park with his impressive portrayal of the people’s champ. Aside from following the fighter from his earliest days in the ring through his championship bouts, the film revealed the intentions and ulterior motives of many in Muhammad Ali’s inner circle – figures, in some cases, that were major forces in the Civil Rights and Islamic movements, including Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
The Great White Hope
James Earl Jones plays the first black heavyweight (a fictional take on Jack Johnson) in this emotional roller coaster. Jones' Jack Jefferson faces adversity in and out of the ring as he rises to the top of the sport and courts a beautiful white woman with whom a romantic relationship is forbidden. The film speaks worlds about the turbulent times in which it is set and the hegemonic society determined to keep African Americans in a hopeless situation.
A Time To Kill
A brutal film to watch, A Time to Kill shows that director Joel Schumacher pulled no punches in telling the tale of a father on trial for murdering the men who viciously raped his young daughter. Aside from revealing the terrible truth that the Ku Klux Klan is sadly still very much alive and well in the U.S., the movie dramatized real-life injustices against African American women.
New Jack City
Director Mario Van Peebles gave gang culture its due with this gritty urban drama. Its relevance was key to its success; by the time the film was released, violent crime syndicates like the one depicted in the movie were making headlines daily as a result of drive-by shootings and drug wars. Americans have always had a fascination with gangsters, and Wesley Snipes’ Nino Brown became an inner-city icon thanks to his take-no-prisoners attitude.
Glory
A tribute to the unsung heroes of the Civil War, Ed Zwick’s epic adaptation of a pair of novels inspired by the memoirs of Col. Robert Gould Shaw (who commanded the all-black 54th Regiment during the Civil War) is an inspirational tale of acceptance and camaraderie. The film chronicled the rise of the first all-black regiment from laborers to respected soldiers. The triumph of the movie, however, was the mutual respect built between the black and white characters throughout the picture.

Film debut in the Goldie Hawn vehicle "Wildcats"; first collaboration with Woody Harrelson

Turned down a small role in Lee's "Do the Right Thing" for the larger part of Willie Mays Hays in "Major League" (1989)

Starred opposite Robert De Niro in "The Fan"

Received star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (August 21)

TV debut in the HBO anthology miniseries, "Vietnam War Story"

Moved to the Bronx at age one

Appeared in commercials for Levi's 501 jeans and Coca-Cola Classic

Reteamed with Woody Harelson in Ron Shelton's "White Men Can't Jump"

Co-founded Struttin' Street Stuff, a theater troupe which performed street and puppet theater in Orlando

Was one of several prominent showbiz figures to provide funding for Lee's "Get on the Bus"

Cast as one of Brooklyn's most infamous drug dealers in Antoine Fuqua's "Brooklyn's Finest"

Played an African-American superhero who battles a group of blood-sucking vampires in "Blade"

Appeared in "The Wiz" with Theatre on Park Dinner Theatre in Orlando

Summary

The tragedy of actor Wesley Snipes' career was due not to the fact that he was sentenced to three years of jail time for tax evasion in 2008, but rather because it overshadowed a prolific decade of work in which he proved himself to be among the most versatile and popular leading men in Hollywood. Though his athletic prowess made him an ideal action hero in films like "Blade" (1997) and its two sequels, he was also a skilled dramatic actor in films like "New Jack City" (1991), "Jungle Fever" (1991), "The Waterdance" (1992), and "One Night Stand" (1997), which earned him the top acting award at the Venice Film Festival. Snipes was equally adept at comedy, most notably in "White Men Can't Jump" (1992), and could transition gracefully from larger-than-life characters like his futuristic villain in "Demolition Man" (1993) to subtler parts like his uncredited turn as a smooth-talking bar patron in "Waiting to Exhale" (1995). A string of legal problems and bad business decisions left a smear on his name during the late 1990s and early 2000s, and may have precipitated the career tailspin that culminated in his 2008 conviction and incarceration two years later, leaving many to question his future as a viable film actor.

Became romantically involved during filming of "Jungle Fever" (1991); No longer together

April DuBois

Wife

Nakyung Park

Wife

Iset Snipes

Daughter

Born July 31, 2001; mother, Nikki Park

Alimayu Snipes

Son

Born March 26, 2007; mother, Nikki Park

Jelani Snipes

Son

Born c. 1988; appeared in "Mo' Better Blues" (1990); mother, April Snipes

Donna Wong

Companion

Asian; dated c. 1996

Education

Name

High School of Performing Arts

State University of New York, Purchase

Jones High School

Notes

Snipes is the owner of China One, a restaurant in L.A.

"I'm a physical type of actor and love projects in which I can get physical. The more action, the better." - Snipes quoted to The New York Times, Aug. 24, 1990

He received the Victor Borge Scholarship, given by the Governor of Florida.

"I see characters as having not only a physical life but a spiritual life. In Haiti, when people get possessed by the spirit, they take on a differenct form; they surrender themselves to a different manifestation. I ask the character to let me represent him the way he would represent himself, using my body. If you're operating from that kind of energy, you're going to get a performance that will jump off the screen." - Wesley Snipes quoted in Premiere, July 1991

"If you really respect the artistic contribution of black folks, then we don't want to do no more movies about a nigga in the 'hood, 'cause a nigga in the 'hood ain't no more different from a pimp on the block back in the 70s, and you see what happened to that. After they didn't have no more pimps and they told every pimp story they could tell, BOOM, end of the industry. So we gotta change the movies, start doing movies that go beyond just a nigga in the 'hood." - Snipes quoted in Vibe, October 1993

In 1993, Snipes was fined $1,000 and placed on two-year unsupervised probation in California after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a loaded weapon.

In April of 1994, while on probation on the California gun conviction, Snipes was briefly detained and charged with reckless driving after he crashed his motorcycle at the end of a thirty mile, 120 mile per hour chase with a Florida Highway Patrol officer and police helicopters. Neither Snipes nor the officer was seriously injured in the crash. Snipes pleaded no contest to the charge of reckless driving, and was sentenced to perform 80 hours of community service.

In the late 90s, Snipes and his brother started a security firm called the Royal Guard of Amen-Ra dedicated to providing VIPs with bodyguards trained in law enforcement, military, and martial arts.

"All I meet is other actors and models. With this crazy schedule it's hard to say, 'OK, baby, I'll be over at 4 a.m.' I just wish I could meet some normal woman. Because a lot of the people I meet just don't have heart." - Snipes to the Chicago Sun-Times, Nov. 7, 1997

"I'm a Bruce Willis fan and I'm seeing him and Mel Gibson, and they're making a lot of cash," he said in an interview last week at a downtown hotel here. "And I'm like, 'Wouldn't it be nice to be a part of that club?'" - Snipes quoted to the Toronto Sun, March 20, 2002

In June of 2005, Snipes was detained in South Africa at Johannesburg International Airport for allegedly trying to pass through the airport with a fake South African passport. Snipes was allowed to return home because he had a valid U.S. passport.

In 2005, Snipes sued New Line Cinema, and David S. Goyer (director of Blade: Trinity) claiming that the studio didn't pay his full salary, that he was intentionally cut out of casting decisions and filmmaking process, despite being one of the producers. Snipes contends that Goyer, his fellow producers, and New Line kept him out of the project's decision process, which ended up harming the film's performance (it made just $52 million). He says that a portion of his salary - $3.6 million - was withheld as punishment. The suit is still pending.

Snipes was indicted Oct. 17, 2006 on eight counts of tax fraud; these charges include trying to cheat the government of $12 million in false refund claims and failing to file tax returns for six years; Snipes returned from Namibia, where he was filming a movie to surrendered to authorities Dec. 8, 2006, two months after he was indicted. Snipes faced the possibility of up to sixteen years in prison and substantial fines if convicted on all the charges. On Feb. 1, 2008, Snipes was acquitted on one felony count of conspiracy to defraud the government and one felony count of filing a false claim with the government. He was, however, found guilty on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file Federal income tax returns.

On April 24, 2008, Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison on tax charges. He appealed the case claiming, among other things, that his sentence was "unreasonable," but on July 16, 2010, the appeals court backed the original ruling.

Wesley Snipes was ordered on Nov. 19, 2010 to start serving a three-year prison sentence for a felony tax conviction after a Florida judge rejected his bid for a new trial.